


Of Buffs and Broken Swords

by Kizukii



Category: Naruto
Genre: Casual Gamer! Naruto, Comedy, Fluff, Gaming AU, M/M, MMORPG, Modern AU, Pro-gamer!Sasuke, everyone's a gamer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 16:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13930464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kizukii/pseuds/Kizukii
Summary: Sasuke, a championship player, accepts a PvP invite from one ramen10. Simply put, he doesn't like how it ends.(Or in which, Sasuke plays for a professional league and Naruto's just a casual player. Then cue Naruto suddenly coming along and wasting all of Sasuke's buffs and potions because they can't seem to finish a match within the PvP time limit.)





	Of Buffs and Broken Swords

**Author's Note:**

> so uHm...this is my first ever Naruto fic and I hope it's alright? I mean, there's so many layers to all the characters, so I'm really scared they're OOC.
> 
> Anyway, here's the Gaming!AU no one wanted.
> 
> Enjoy!!

This guy was going down.

Sasuke’s left hand accurately pressed onto multiple keys on his keyboard as his mouse hovered steadily at the trajectory, rapidly executing a 5-hit combo. Much to his dismay, however, his opponent seamlessly dodged the onslaught and somehow managed to perform a counter strike back.

Sasuke seethed in irritation as he swerved his mouse swiftly to the right, getting out of the focal point of the attack just in the nick of time but a small amount of damage was done, nonetheless. As fast as he could, he pressed a combination of keys to accomplish a 9-hit feint, in hopes of at least getting a weak spot to open up.

His opponent conjured a blue, translucent invincibility shield of a few meters radius around his avatar that lasted for 3 seconds.

This _coward_.

The guy even had the audacity to make his avatar do a small dance (he had a feeling Itachi added that action into the game because he knew it would be the bane of Sasuke’s existence) while he chilled in the sanction of his should-be-nerfed shield. Sasuke could clearly tell the guy was mocking him and he swore to all the gods out there that he's willing to spend all his buffs just to beat this guy.

 

-

 

He was _not_ willing to spend all his buffs just to beat this guy.

Their PvP lasted until the maximum time limit.

Which means, it was an unnecessary fight with no winner, no EXP, no items, no anything gained. Sasuke was on the verge of throwing his gaming desktop out of the window.

He wasted half of his potions, the stacked buffs he saved up for future dungeon raids and most importantly, his limited gacha weapon _broke_. Sasuke knew the thing was not invincible but shit, it should take more than one PvP match to destroy it.

He leaned back against his black, leather chair, trying to calm the adrenaline that raced through his veins. If he wasn't him, he would have counted this match as a draw. But no matter which compass angle he tried to look at the situation, it would always be a loss -- not that he would really admit it to his opponent.

With much effort, he inclined back into the edge of his desk, opting to assess the gravity of his loss. His eyes roamed at all the empty slots on his inventory box.

This guy had to pay reparations.

As he was organizing his inventory, a small window popped up in gaming interface.

[ramen10] _has sent you a friend request._

Sasuke’s eyebrow twitched. He even had the guts to send him a friend request.

He contemplated on both of his options. If he accepted, he would be able to see the equipment he had on. He would be able to see his skills and his Hero Path as well. All in all, he would be able to see how he was able to keep up. On the other hand, if he denied, he wouldn't have to deal with this guy anymore and can finally move on from the wasteful match they just had.

Alright. Denied it is--

“Sasuke, I'm home!”

 _You have accepted a friend request from_ [ramen10].

God damn Itachi.

Distracted by the voice that entered the house, Sasuke had somehow managed to miss the intended button. He cursed himself, and his brother. The messaging dock popped up and Sasuke met his greatest mistake.

[ramen10] _says_ : it took u forever to accept lol

He closed the tab aggressively, only for it to obnoxiously show up again.

[ramen10] _says_ : great match btw  
[ramen10] _says_ : jfc u nearly got me so many times  
[ramen10] _says_ : where do u get your skill scrolls?? u need to show me pls

This was a mistake -- a _huge_ misunderstanding. Whoever this ramen10 was, Sasuke knew this guy was born to spite the living sanity out of him. With an exasperated sigh, he typed out the laziest reply he could muster.

[Susanoo] says: No.

Okay, that came out a bit snobbish as well. He didn’t particularly mean to come off as snobbish -- really it was unintentional -- but that’s just what happens when someone wastes so much of your stuff.

Internally, though, Sasuke prayed that his reply shut down all of ramen10’s endeavours to talk to him. That duel really did put him in a bad mood. The thoughts of taking another eternity to craft everything he lost and not to say _get another weapon_ , really pushed him on the verge of hysteria.

If he was seething during the match, he was ready to murder someone now.

[ramen10] _says_ : wow plssss :c  
[Susanoo] _says_ : Maybe later.

Yeah right.

As if he'd show anything to this dead last.

[ramen10] _says_ : really??? u mean that??  
[Susanoo] _says_ : Mhm.

No, he didn't mean any of that.

[ramen10] _says_ : ure the best!!  
[ramen10] _says_ : meet me in konoha hokage tower tomorrow??  
[ramen10] _says_ : i gotta go soon

Awkwardly, Sasuke’s hand twitched above his keyboard. He couldn’t believe this guy.

[Susanoo] _says_ : I’ll message you. I have a few things to do tomorrow.  
[ramen10] _says_ : cool see you then :D  
[ramen10] _is now offline._

See you then? SEE YOU THEN?

Sasuke grounded his teeth as he tried not to crush the mouse under his grasp.

 

* * *

 

With much irritation, Sasuke unceremoniously stabbed the piece of fish with his chopsticks.

“I heard you broke the Kusanagi?”

Itachi casually asked as his gaze lingered on Sasuke for far too long.

At the question, however, Sasuke almost immediately froze, his shoulders suddenly tensing and the hand grinding down two wooden sticks on the poor fish ceased in midaction. Slowly but surely, his eyes trailed up to meet Itachi’s questioning ones.

“H-How do you know?” Did he just stutter? No, that can't be right. Uchiha Sasuke doesn't stutter.

“Foolish Otouto, we keep records on the number of limited gacha items. It's only right I would know when a nearly _unbreakable_ sword is _broken_.”

Sasuke could feel the atmosphere around him thicken like egg whites -- the more it's beaten, the foamier it gets. In this case, Itachi was the baker and Sasuke was the egg whites he was beating.

“It wasn't my fault--!”

Honestly? Sasuke’s brother, Uchiha Itachi, was terrifying.

He may be generous and gentle at times, but when he's like this? No one wants to be the target. Itachi was one of the co-founders of the game, _Blazing Rebirth_. The game Sasuke was originally a lab rat for, but ultimately, the game he sold his life to.

It’s sometimes hard to believe that his brother is the one of the makers of the game he dedicated his life to. It's also sometimes hard to believe that he has dinner with him every night.

Though, contrary to popular belief, Sasuke doesn't ask his brother for things. It's, in fact, the other way around. The limited gacha weapon Sasuke had? Itachi gave it to him. The account he's using at the moment? Well, that was Itachi’s sixth account.

Obviously, Itachi plays a big part in his life and it’s terrifying when he has to deal with skeptical and upset Itachi.

“Wasn't your fault? Interesting.”

Technically, it really wasn't his fault. Ramen10 broke it but in a way, it was his fault too because he was the one who accepted the PvP invite.

“Anyway, how was work?” Sasuke spoke in an attempt of changing the topic.

His brother hummed in his musings. “Nagato and Yahiko are planning on doing another event.”

For the second time during that dinner, Sasuke’s hand stopped mid air. “You can't be serious?” he said with a tone of disbelief as one eyebrow rose, unconvinced.

“Don't worry. I only said _planning_.”

“I've barely recovered from that event a week ago. You don't expect me to grind more Gold in such a short amount of time to join this event.”

“That's why the fishing system exists, you know?”

Sasuke scoffed, “Fishing until the next event would leave me unprepared in equipment.”

Itachi rose his eyebrows incredulously. “Then why did you break the Kusanagi?”

Itachi wasn't going to let this topic go until he knew what happened.

The younger Uchiha sighed in defeat.

* * *

Blazing Rebirth (BR) was founded by Akatsuki Interactive almost 10 years ago. It was the current Top 1 MMORPG worldwide.

Starting from Japan, it reached a high number of players and eventually, was released internationally.

In the beginning, many were dubious of its creation. BR was unorthodox. Its game matrix was almost absurd and the concept behind it was laughable. Only a small amount of people played it, most likely those dedicated to the company. In its 6th month, after the launch, a certain patch had everyone downloading it unlike any other. The rate of playing hours increased and the sales skyrocketed.

Blazing Rebirth became the life of everyone’s dreams and many people found themselves immersed in a phantasmagoric reality. It was the rebirth all wanted in their next lives.

Due to its popularity on its 4th year, game championships were held. Top-tier teams gather to Japan to participate, expecting to win and grab the awards themselves. But most importantly, grab the title of _the Sage of the Six Paths_ and be crowned the best player.

These championships or, Battle Royale, as they're officially called, are held each year.

In the past 10 years Sasuke has been playing this game, he and his team, Taka, has won two leagues.

And for the life of him, he couldn't fathom how someone -- probably a casual player at that -- was able to keep up with him in a duel.

 

* * *

 

That night, sleep eluded Sasuke.

For the majority of the time, he was lying there, still glued to same train of thoughts 5 hours ago.

As the moonlight blossomed in his room, it bathed the soft cream of his walls in a dazzling gleam and the darkness of his sheets an iridescent onyx. But none of that mattered. The things that echoed in his head were questions dying to be answered.

And the sad part? They wouldn't be answered until he spoke to ramen10.

Which, in truth, he dreaded.

 

* * *

 

“Oh shit. THE Kusanagi was destroyed? Ha! Aren't we in for a rude awakening?”

They indeed were. At times like these, Suigetsu just really knew what to say.

The team he led, Taka, were currently in a voice chat. Sasuke was once again snuggled in the comfort of his chair, his knees bent under his chin as he listened quietly at his teammates. Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo were scrolling through his equipment, commenting on every difference they saw, small changes now becoming drastic issues.

“Can't you stay quiet for a minute, Sui? Honestly, you're such a-- wow! He made you use the food that took you like, 3 months to craft?!” Karin exclaimed through the chat, her voice shrill in both static and pitch. The uchiha subconsciously winced at Karin’s bewilderment. He could feel her eyes bulging in disbelief through her surprise.

“Who's talking now?” Suigetsu replied sarcastically.

“Would you two shut up for a moment before I drag Sasuke into another voice chat?” Juugo chimed in, his usual patient tone now laced with an obvious annoyance. Frankly, Sasuke couldn't be any more grateful for the man’s presence.

There was an audible groan from both Karin and Suigetsu. Juugo shut them off completely and at that, the two started typing out their insults to each other instead.

“What is it?” Sasuke furrowed his brows as he looked over at his inventory, wondering what Juugo was examining.

“Your Gold.”

For the longest moment, Sasuke was confused. His eyes slowly travelled downwards, on track to look at the number of his in game cash.

[0] GOLD  
[107] SILVER

In the instant, Sasuke’s world turned upside down. Everything grew eerily silent and his team could probably feel his quiet rage seeping. He felt the pit of his stomach fall -- falling until there was nowhere else to fall.

Then he remembered.

_Sasuke seethed in irritation as he swerved his mouse swiftly to the right, getting out of the focal point of the attack just in the nick of time but a small amount of damage was done, nonetheless._

That hit wasn't meant to deal damage. It was a secret skill, Theft, and it stole more when the opponent is dealt with the barest amount of damage.

“SHI--”

Yeah, this guy was definitely going down.

**Author's Note:**

> In the next chapter, we confront ramen10!
> 
> So, how was that? I hope it wasn't too bad! Thanks for reading!!


End file.
